Gamma irradiation of eggplant seeds influences plant growth, yield and nutritional profile in M1 generation | Obsevanje semen jajčevca z ℽ-žarki vpliva na rast rastlin, pridelek in prehransko vrednost plodov v M1 generaciji

English. The study examines agromorphological traits and nutrient compositions in three genotypes of eggplants (Solanum melongena ‘African Beauty F1’ and ‘Melina F1’ and S. aethiopicum ‘Kotobi’) grown from seeds irradiated by gamma rays (γ-ray) with 100 Gy. Experiments were carried out in the screenhouse and experimental field of Crop Science Department, University of Calabar, Nigeria. Completely randomised design with four replications and randomised complete block design with three replications was used in the screenhouse and field experiments respectively. Eggplant × γ-ray effect reduced (p ≤ 0.05) seedling emergence, plant height and number of leaves in the nursery at 2 and 4 weeks after sowing. In the field, these traits were consistently lower for irradiated Melina F1 and Kotobi (p > 0.05) at ten weeks after transplanting. Irradiated African Beauty F1 had the highest (p ≤ 0.05) upper canopy leaf area (429.54 cm2), higher (p > 0.05) plant height and stem width; lower (p > 0.05) number of branches and leaves. Un-irradiated and irradiated Kotobi had the highest (p ≤ 0.05) fruit load, lower (p ≤ 0.05) fruit volume, weight and yields over four harvest intervals. Carbohydrate and energy contents of Kotobi fruits grown from 100 Gy gamma-ray irradiated seeds were concurrently improved (p ≤ 0.05). Gamma ray irradiation had both positive and negative influences on the agromorphological traits, mineral composition and nutrient profile of eggplants. However, 100 Gy dose of irradiation had a negative effect on fruit characteristics in general. From the results of this study, inconsistent variations in the agromorphological traits of the irradiated eggplants of the three varieties were reported. Therefore, the goal of mutation breeding in eggplant should not undermine the importance of the eggplant genotype as well as the actual radiation dose.

Slovenian. Raziskava preučuje agromorfološke lastnosti in prehransko sestavo treh sort jajčevca (Solanum melongena ‘African Beauty F1’ and ‘Melina F1’ in S. aethiopicum ‘Kotobi’) vzgojenih iz semen obsevanih z gama žarki, jakosti 100 Gy. Poskusi so bili izvedeni v rastlinjaku in na poskusnem polju ustanove Crop Science Department, University of Calabar, Nigeria. V obeh primerih je bil poskus zasnovan kot popolni naključni bločni poskus s štirimi ponovitvami. Obsevanje semen jajčevca z gama žarki je zmanjšalo vznik sejank (p ≤ 0,05), višino rastlin in število listov v rastlinjaku dva in štiri tedne po setvi. V poljskem poskusu so bile vrednosti teh parametrov vedno manjše pri obsevanih sortah Melina F1 in Kotobi (p > 0,05) deset tednov po presaditvi. Rastline obsevane sorte African Beauty F1 so imele največjo listno površino  (p ≤ 0,05; 429,54 cm2), večjo višino (p > 0,05) in večjo debelino stebla, a manjšo število stranskih poganjkov in listov (p > 0,05). Neobsevane in obsevane rastline sorte Kotobi so imele največ plodov (p ≤ 0,05), manjši volume plodov (p ≤ 0,05), manjšo maso in pridelek v vseh štirjih obdobjih pobiranja plodov. Vsebnosti ogljikovih hidratov in energetska vrednost plodov sorte Kotobi, zrasle iz semen obsevanih z 100 Gy gama žarki sta se izboljšali (p ≤ 0,05). Obsevanje semen jajčevca z gama žarki je imelo pozitivne in negativne učinke na agromorfološke lastnosti, mineralno sestavo in na prehranski profil plodov jajčevca. Doza obsevanja 100 Gy je imela nasplošno negativni učinek na lastnosti plodov. Iz rezultatov raziskave je razvidno, da so spremembe agromorfoloških lastnosti jajčevca vseh treh obravnavanih sort, vzgojenih iz obsevanih semen nekonsistetne. Iz tega sledi, da cilji žlahtnenja z mutacijami ne smejo prezreti pomena genotipa jajčevca kot tudi ne dejanskih doz obsevanja.